Sunday, April 14, 2019

Appeals Court Rulling: US Can Keep Sending Asylum-Seekers Back To Mexico

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily lifted an order suspending the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a Trump administration policy that requires Central American asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico before their appearance in immigration court.

Though the Friday evening stay is not indicative of the government’s future prospects in this case, it was a rare victory for an administration that has often struggled before the left-leaning court.

“Finally, great news at the border!” President Donald Trump tweeted Friday night.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen began implementing the MPP in December 2018 following negotiations with the Mexican government. The government claimed the program was authorized by a provision of federal law allowing the attorney general to return aliens arriving from neighboring countries.

The provision provides: “In the case of an alien…who is arriving on land from a foreign territory contiguous to the United States, the attorney general may return the alien to that territory,” pending further proceedings before an immigration judge.